WebSphere Application Server 7.0 Administration Guide

Table of Contents

WebSphere Application Server 7.0 Administration Guide

Credits

About the Author

Acknowledgement

About the Reviewers

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the example code for the book

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Installing WebSphere Application Server

Installation planning

Installation scenarios

Profile types

Preparation and prerequisites

Graphical installation

Installing the base binaries

Downloading the WAS for Linux trial

Installing PuTTY

Installing WinSCP

Uploading the trial install to your Linux server

Installing as root

Running the launchpad

Installation wizard welcome screen

Software license agreement

System prerequisites check

Optional features

Installation directory

WebSphere Application Server environments

Profile creation

Installation registry files

Installation logs

Profile manager logs and files

Logs

Files

Admin console

Silent installation

Creating a response file

Editing a response file

Running the installer silently

Examining installation logs

Summary

2. Deploying your Applications

Inside the Application Server

JVM

Web container

Virtual hosts

Environment settings

Resources

JNDI

Application file types

Deploying an application

Starting and stopping your applications

Data access applications

Data sources

Preparing our sample database

JDBC providers

Creating a JDBC provider

Creating a J2C alias

Creating a data source

Deploying a data access application

Selecting installation options

Mapping modules to servers

Providing JSP reloading options for web modules

Mapping shared libraries

Mapping resource references to resources

Mapping virtual hosts for web modules

Mapping context roots for web modules

Reviewing the deployment steps

Using the application

Summary

3. Security

J2EE security

Global security

Global security registry types

Turning on global security

Standalone custom registry

Local operating system

Creating a Linux user

Standalone LDAP

Download OpenLDAP

Installing OpenLDAP

Configuring OpenLDAP

Adding a user to LDAP

Configuring an LDAP registry in WebSphere

Administrative roles

Mapping users and groups to administrative roles

Summary

4. Administrative Scripting

Automation

The ws_ant tool

Deploying an application using ws_ant

The wsadmin tool

Interactive commands

Individual commands

Profile scripts

Command script files

Listing installed applications with Jython

Installing an application using Jython

Querying application status

Summary

5. WebSphere Configuration

File structure

The WebSphere file system

The product binaries file structure

The profile file structure

XML configuration files

Cell level XML files

Node level XML files

Server level XML files

Important properties files

The soap.client.props file

The sas.client.props file

Logs

JVM logs

Configuring logs

Changing log file locations

Changing log styles

FFDC logs

Viewing JVM logs

Viewing logs in the admin console

Viewing logs on the file system

Linux tail command

Linux grep command

JVM settings

Changing JVM settings using the admin console

Class loaders

Class loading basics

WebSphere class loaders

Application server class loader

Configuring server class loaders

Classloader policy

Class loading mode

Application class loader

Configuring application class loaders

Class loader order

WAR class loader policy

Web module class loader

Configuring module class loading

Class loader order

Class loading isolation

Summary

6. WebSphere Messaging

Java messaging

Java Message Service

JMS features

JMS concepts

Point-to-point or queuing model

Publish and subscribe model

JMS API

WebSphere messaging

Default JMS provider

WebSphere SIB

Creating a SIB

Configuring JMS

Creating queue connection factories

Creating queue destinations

Installing the JMS demo application

JMS Test Tool application

WebSphere MQ overview

Overview of WebSphere MQ example

Installing WebSphere MQ

Running the WMQ installer

Creating a queue manager

Creating a WMQ connection factory

Creating a WMQ queue destination

Reconfiguring the JMS demo application

Summary

7. Monitoring and Tuning

Tivoli Performance Viewer

Enabling Tivoli Performance Viewer

Key TPV categories

Summary Reports

Key performance modules

Starting Tivoli Performance Viewer

PMI for external monitoring

Request metrics

Enabling request metrics

Components to be instrumented

Trace level

Request metrics destination

Request metrics in SystemOut.log

Retrieving performance data with PerfServlet

Dynamic caching

JVM tuning

JVM core and heap dumps

Requesting a Java core dump using Jython

Requesting a heap dump using Jython

Requesting a Java core dump using the kill command

JVM-triggered heap dump

Analysing a Java core (thread) dump

IBM Thread and Monitor Dump Analyzer for Java

Installing the JCA tool

Generate a Java core dump to view the thread lock

Other analysis tools

Setting the initial and maximum heap sizes

Tuning your heap size

Summary

8. Administrative Features

The administrative agent

Creating an administration profile

Profile Management Tool

Starting the administrative agent

Administrative agent console

Registering an application server node

Creating a second application server node

Removing the administrative agent

IBM HTTP Server

Starting IBM HTTP Server

The WebSphere plugin

Installing the WebSphere plugin

Manual configuration of the plugin

Generate plugin

Summary

9. Administration Tools

Dumping namespaces

Example name space dump

EAR expander

Oveview of the WebSphere Application Server toolkit

Installing the WebSphere Application Server toolkit

Running the Application Server toolkit

Log analysis using the ASTK

Creating a new project

Importing log files

Applying filters

Selecting columns

Loading symptom databases

Inspecting J2EE applications

Summary

10. Product Maintenance

Understanding updates

Update process overview

Product update types

Preparing for updates

Locating updates

Fix Central

Update installers

Creating a backup

Installing a new Update Installer

Downloading the Update Installer

Installing the graphical Update Installer

Applying an update using the Update Installer

Silent updates

Logs

Troubleshooting tips

Summary

Index

WebSphere Application Server 7.0 Administration Guide

Steve Robinson

WebSphere Application Server 7.0 Administration Guide

Copyright © 2009 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: August 2009

Production Reference: 1070809

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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ISBN 978-1-847197-20-7

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Cover Image by Vinayak Chittar (<vinayak.chittar@gmail.com>)

Credits

Author

Steve Robinson

Reviewers

Meenakshi Verma

Owen Chung

Prabu Swamidurai

Acquisition Editor

Sarah Cullington

Development Editor

Ved Prakash Jha

Technical Editor

Dhiraj Bellani

Aditi Srivastava

Editorial Team Leader

Abhijeet Deobhakta

Project Team Leader

Priya Mukherji

Project Coordinator

Leena Purkait

Proofreader

Laura Booth

Indexer

Hemangini Bari

Production Coordinator

Dolly Dasilva

Cover Work

Dolly Dasilva

About the Author

Steven Charles Robinson is a young entrepreneur and leading UK WebSphere consultant. He has been consulting in IT since 1997 and has been involved in projects throughout the globe. He has worked for fortune 500 companies around the world and is currently working for SCRev.com, a specialist consultancy dedicated to helping service companies achieve capability maturity in software configuration and release management, specifically focusing on J2EE (Enterprise Edition) best practice and deployment readiness.

Steve started out originally as a consultant in the IBM Lotus Notes/Domino product suite, where he excelled in middleware integration technologies to ensure homogenous environments could exist in the new heterogeneous world. Having worked for many different industries, Steve has had a plethora of experience in the integration of most technologies across many different systems and cultures. He is also an accomplished programmer in including C, Java, and the Microsoft .NET development tools.

Steve has gleaned many insights due to the amount of large enterprise projects he has been involved with and his passion for documentation and process improvement is recognized by all those he works with.

Steve is married and lives with his family in England. He spends his time either writing, or researching new products and technologies for client projects along with investigating new ways to automate technologies where possible. Steve is also known for his contribution to the WebSphere Internet community through one of his many top-ranking WebSphere knowledge portals www.webspheretools.com.

Acknowledgement

To my loving wife and bestest buddy Jacqui; without you I would not be the person I am today. You keep me grounded, while I dream my biggest dreams. I would also like to thank my mother Carillon Faery who is a gift to the planet for her constant love and energy. Mum, you give me inspiration. I also dedicate this book to my children, Brooke, Jodie, Carly and Mike who in their own unique ways give me encouragement, enjoyment and individual insights. I would also like to thank my brother Jaime, who believes in me so much and encourages me to write more often.

I thank the colleagues who reviewed my book, Owen Chung, Prabu Swamidurai, and James Thomas. Thanks guys, you helped me ensure that the content was accurate.

I would also like to thank the following Packt Publishing staff: Sarah Cullington, who helped me find my writing style; Leena Purkait—Project Coordinator, who kept me on the ball with timings; and Ved Prakash Jha—Development Editor, who helped me keep my writing in form and to the point.

About the Reviewers

Meenakshi Verma has been part of the IT industry since 1998. She is experienced in putting up solutions across multiple industry segments using SAP Business Intelligence (BI), SAP Business Objects, and Java/J2EE technologies. She is currently based in Toronto, Canada and is working with Enbridge Gas Distribution.

Meenakshi has been helping with technical reviews for books published by Packt publishing across varied enterprise solutions. Her earlier work includes JasperReports for Java Developers, Java EE 5 Development using GlassFish Application Server, Practical Data Analysis and Reporting with Business Intelligence Reporting Tools (BIRT), Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) 3 Developer's Guide, and Learning DOJO.

I'd like to thank my Father (Mr. Bhopal Singh) and Mother (Mrs. Raj Bala) for laying a strong foundation in me and giving me their unconditional love and support. I also owe thanks and gratitude to my husband (Atul Verma) for his encouragement and support throughout the review of this book and many others; my four-year-old son (Prieyaansh Verma) for giving me the warmth of his love despite my hectic schedules; and my brother (Sachin Singh) for always being there for me.

Owen Chung is a software configuration manager who has worked in the telecommunications and banking industries in the United Kingdom and Australia. He has worked with WebSphere solutions for the past four years. He is self-employed in his company Red Cliff Management Limited.

I would like to thank my dearest other half Vislinda Alba Bacanto for her love and endless support. My parents Winston and Sarah Chung for providing all they could so I could have a better life in a new country and my brother Adrian for his tireless sense of mirth and amusement.

Prabu Swamidurai is a WebSphere consultant specializing in large scale WebSphere implementations in financial and retail industries in the UK. He is certified in several IBM products and has worked with the WebSphere products over 11 years. He has a master's degree in Physics and Computer Science.

He can be contacted via his web site www.webspherespecialist.com.

Thanks to Latha for her love and encouragement.

Preface

As a J2EE (Enterprise Edition) administrator, you require a secure, scalable, and resilient infrastructure to support and manage your J2EE applications and service-oriented architecture services.

The WebSphere suite of products from IBM provides many different industry solutions and WebSphere Application Server is the core of the WebSphere product range from IBM.

WebSphere is optimized to ease administration and improve runtime performance. It runs your applications and services in a reliable, secure, and high-performance environment to ensure that your core business opportunities are not lost due to application or infrastructure downtime.

Whether you are experienced or new to WebSphere, this book will provide you with a cross-section of WebSphere Application Server features and how to configure these features for optimal use. This book will provide you with the knowledge to build and manage performance-based J2EE applications and service-oriented architecture (SOA) services, offering the highest level of reliability, security, and scalability.

Taking you through by examples, you will be shown the different methods for installing WebSphere Application Server and will be shown how to configure and prepare WebSphere resources for your application deployments. The facets of data-aware and message-aware applications are explained and demonstrated, giving the reader real-world examples of manual and automated deployments.

WebSphere security is covered in detail showing the various methods of implementing federated user and group repositories. Key administration features and tools are introduced, which will help WebSphere administrators manage and tune their WebSphere implementation and applications. You will also be shown how to administer your WebSphere server standalone or use the new administrative agent, which provides the ability to administer multiple installations of WebSphere Application Server using one single administration console.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Installing WebSphere Application Server covers how to plan and prepare your WebSphere installation and shows how to manually install WebSphere using the graphical installer and how to use a response file for automated silent installation. The fundamentals of application server profiles are described and the administrative console is introduced.

Chapter 2, Deploying your Applications explains the make-up of Enterprise Archive (EAR) files, how to manually deploy applications, and how Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) is used in the configuration of resources. Connecting to databases is explained via the configuration of Java database connectivity (JDBC) drivers and data sources used in the deployment of a data-aware application.

Chapter 3, Security demonstrates the implementation of global security and how to federate lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) and file-based registries for managing WebSphere security. Roles are explained where users and groups can be assigned different administrative capabilities.

Chapter 4, Administrative Scripting introduces ws_ant, a utility for using apache Ant build scripts to deploy and configure applications. Advanced administrative scripting is demonstrated by using the wsadmin tool with Jython scripts, covering how WebSphere deployment and configuration can be automated using the extensive WebSphere Jython scripting objects.

Chapter 5, WebSphere Configuration explains the WebSphere installation structure and key XML files, which make up the underlying WebSphere configuration repository. WebSphere logging is covered showing the types of log and log settings that are vital for administration. Application Server JVM settings and class loading are explained.

Chapter 6, WebSphere Messaging explains basic Java message service (JMS) messaging concepts and demonstrates both JMS messaging using the default messaging provider and WebSphere Message Queuing (MQ) along with explanations of message types. Use of Queue Connection Factories, Queues, and Queue Destinations are demonstrated via a sample application.

Chapter 7, Monitoring and Tuning shows how to use Tivoli Performance Monitor, request metrics, and JVM tuning settings to help you improve WebSphere performance and monitor the running state of your deployed applications.

Chapter 8, Administrative Features covers how to enable the administrative agent for administering multiple application servers with a central administrative console. IBM HTTP Server and the WebSphere plug-in are explained.

Chapter 9, Administration Tools demonstrates some of the shell-script-based utilities vital to the WebSphere administrator for debugging and problem resolution.

Chapter 10, Product Maintenance shows how to maintain your WebSphere Application Server by keeping it up-to-date with the latest fix packs and feature packs.

What you need for this book

You can now download the latest version, RHEL 5.3, known as Tikanga, as a trial from www.redhat.com. If you cannot obtain Red Hat, you can also use CentOS 5.3 which is a community-supported, freely-available operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and is freely available for download from http://www.centos.org. If you find any variances from the exercises in this book, you can search http://www.webspheretools.com for tips on how to install and configure Red Hat or Centos. All of the software applications required are either trial or open source software applications, which are freely available on the Internet, and the download URLs are provided along with instructions of how to install and configure the software required for each exercise.

Below is a list of the software applications used in this book:

WebSphere Application Server 7 Trial

WebSphere MQ 7 Trial

Open LDAP

Oracle XE (Oracle Database 10g Express Edition)

Xming

PuTTY

Conventions

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text are shown as follows: Since the manageHR.xml file has a project declaration which specifies the default target being build-all, as shown below, the build-all target will be called if no target name is specified on the command line.

A block of code is set as follows:

[Manage HR Lister Application Deployment default=build-all basedir=.>]

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

print Hello World

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: clicking the Next button moves you to the next screen.

Note

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Note

Tips and tricks appear like this.

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Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.

Downloading the example code for the book

Visit http://www.packtpub.com/files/code/7207_Code.zip to directly download the example code.

The downloadable files contain instructions on how to use them.

Errata

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Questions

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Chapter 1. Installing WebSphere Application Server

To begin our journey, we will need to install IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS). WebSphere is based on Java and can run on many platforms from Windows through to Unix and even Mainframes. We have chosen Linux Red Hat as our IBM certified Operating System (OS). For the remainder of this book, we will discuss WebSphere Administration from a Linux/Unix standpoint using Red Hat (RHEL) version 4 update 6 as our Linux distribution. It is easy to acquire Linux Red Hat trial ISO images which can be downloaded from the Internet; it is also readily available on CD from your local PC store. We use Linux as opposed to Windows as using WebSphere on Linux lends to being Unix-ready. What we mean is that by learning to install and administer Websphere using Linux, you will be well-prepared and equipped to work with WebSphere for Linux or WebSphere for Unix versions. The skills learned in this book are transferable to WebSphere installations and configurations on all the supported versions of Unix; for example, Solaris, AIX and HP-UX, and other versions of Linux like SUSE. It must also be mentioned that Websphere for Linux can also